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Like Scicurious, my tattoo is on my back so I can't see them coming. It drives me nuts. I have some vines on my upper back that peak out of the top of certain shirt collars and people will walk. . .Read More

Wow! I can't believe that this happens to you. People are so rude. If that were me my gut reaction would be to call out, "Help! I'm being assaulted!" That would make them feel bad and it woul. . .Read More

Dude? Seriously? WTF? That's just so wrong, on so many levels. My tat is in a place where only I decide who can see it, and touch it, but even if it was at a visbible place, that gives no one, not . . .Read More

When my baby nephew did it was adorable. As soon as his eyes caught the tattoo he zoned in and immediately wanted to investigate it further. Children are curious and love bright colours. But surely. . .Read More

It looks to me as if those people thought that just because you've got a tattoo, especially in "kinky places", then you must be more accesible (whory, so to speak) than those girls who don't own t. . .Read More

I totally identify. I've had people come up to me and start tracing my tattoo. Creepy beyond belief, especially since it's on my back and I can't see them coming. I've had people pull my shir. . .Read More

I thought I would do a few blog posts here and there about aspects of my research. So I warn you now, it is very possible I may geek out…a lot. There are quite a few things I cover in my work, so piece by piece, quick and dirty explanations will follow. Please feel free to ask questions, and if there are areas you would like me elaborate on and maybe make another blog post about, I will be more than happy to oblige.

The first one that I think is important to understand in my work is mass spectrometry. So what the hell is it, and why is it useful? In this post I will take a stab at introducing you to this powerful instrument, and then I shall write another post in which I will introduce you to the one I use and some things I do on it. First, I think a good base understanding of mass spec. is important.

Mass spectrometry is a powerful analytical technique that is used to characterize, identify, and quantify unknown compounds (here I point out that many people interchange spectrometry with spectroscopy, and that is incorrect: for spectroscopy, think light, and spectrometry, think electromagnetics).It is used in research, medicine, forensics, pharmaceuticals, archeology, geochemistry etc. The applications are endless. This is a very common instrument and tool used in . . . More